Best Runway Bags of New York Fashion Week Fall 2017

At the moment, it's hard not to get the sense that New York Fashion Week doesn't know what it wants to be, or what it's likely to become over the next few years. Compared to its European counterparts, NYFW has always relied more on commerce than art, and the ways that accessibly priced contemporary brands handle everything from retail orders to consumer engagement is changing quickly. More established New York brands are eschewing expensive runway shows for presentations and see-now, buy-now marketing blitzes, and the city's most promising upstarts often make few, if any, handbags. (Unless a new line's marquee products are its accessories, like Mansur Gavriel at its debut, brands usually save bags for later periods of expansion when they have more resources.)

That doesn't mean there weren't interesting bags to be found among New York Fashion Week's Fall 2017 shows and presentations, which wrapped up late last week. Jason Wu returned to handbags with a few strong day options dotting his runway, and Altuzarra expanded its terrific line with a new day satchel in multiple sizes, textures, colors and fabrications.